“There is no peace,” says my God, “for the wicked.” – Isaiah 57:21

Today’s Scripture Reading (December 31, 2013): Isaiah 57

There are some things that chase us through life. One of them is the things that we have left undone. There are few pains that rank higher than leaving a dream unpursued. Often it is fear that keeps us from chasing after our dreams, but at the time that we allowed fear to win, we often miss the future pain that will hunt us because of the things that we did not do.

Our second pursuers are the mistakes that we have made - missteps in judgment, or accidents, actions that we have committed that we may not have chosen to do, but we did them anyway. One would think that the things that we did not mean to do would not hurt us as much as time progresses, but we are wrong. Intent does not really seem to matter. We can tell ourselves repeatedly that we didn’t mean to do it, but the pain does not seem to answer that kind of logic. No matter what our motives, the pain is still there.

The third thing that chases us are our own wrong actions that we purposed to do. The pain usually lasts much longer than the benefits of the actual act. And the resulting pain often makes peace impossible. We wake up every day and we want peace, sometimes we can even lie and pretend that we are at peace, but if we are honest with ourselves we would have to admit that our past has chased us – haunted us – driving any chance for peace away. And in our darker moments, the pain almost seems ready to overwhelm us.

It is this phenomenon that God seems to speak to through Isaiah. These are the things that interfere with our peace; that make peace impossible for the wicked. And, unfortunately, we are all wicked in some way – the proof of our wickedness is found in the things that continually chase us. But God had an answer for the things that haunt us. And his answer was to repeatedly point us toward the present – and his future. God maintains that he is the God of the past, present and the future. But we are not God. We have absolutely no ability to change the shadows of the past, and the future is the domain of only God. Our reality is that the present is the only thing that we have any control over.

So God does the unthinkable. He offers us full forgiveness for the shadows chasing us in the past. He promises that he will not bring these things up again. We get the pass with him that we have always deep down believed was impossible. And then God assures us that he will take care of the future – it is solidly in his hands. But then he challenges us to act in the present in a way that honors him, because the present is the only thing we have any control over. And God’s promise is that if we do this, then we can find peace.

Tonight we traditionally stand on a threshold. Today is New Year’s Eve – a day to look back. Tomorrow is New Year’s Day, a day when we traditionally look forward. But the truth that we need to understand is that it is only the in between time that we need to concentrate on – the present. And there, forgiven and confident in the God of the future – there we can find peace.  

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Isaiah 58